Los Alamos National Laboratory

Two nuclear laboratories in New Mexico are facing hefty fines for the faulty handling of classified information or material.

The federal Department of Energy has fined Sandia Corp. $577,500 for violation of control of nuclear weapons data, reports the Albuquerque Journal. Los Alamos National Laboratory is also facing fines for two separate incidents.

Sandia Corp. is a Lockheed Martin company that serves as the private operator of Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque.

Sandia presented information at improper lab settings and to the public over many years, according to a preliminary notice of violation issued by the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration last week.

The company was cited for four Level 1 violations and two lesser ones. The Level 1 errors are said to cause a higher national security risk.

At Los Alamos National Laboratory, the private contractor Los Alamos National Security LLC faces a $247,500 fine for loss of classified material and a $150,000 fine for exposure of workers to a hazardous material.

Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Department of Energy have largely kept quiet about a cybersecurity hack that was announced Thursday.
The United States Office of Personnel Management announced that there was an incident that had been discovered in April that affected its Information Technology systems and that data may have been compromised.
While it is unknown who was behind a potential hack, U.S. officials believe it might have been hackers from China that have gotten into personnel files and other sensitive material at the OPM, which does background checks for the vast majority of government employees.
Following the incident, LANL and Los Alamos Field Office personnel were directing all questions to the NNSA headquarters. A NNSA official, which the Los Alamos Monitor reached late Friday, redirected questions to the OPM.
The NNSA spokesperson said only that DOE personnel were notified by Secretary Ernest Moniz Thursday following the announcement.
The Department of Homeland Security on Friday said it was possible employees all departments of the government could have personal data compromised.
Starting Monday and continuing through June 19, OPM will send notifications to approximately 4 million individuals whose information was potentially compromised.

The following is information released by the Office of Personnel Management for those that may have been affected by Thursday night's cybersecurity incident:

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently became aware of a cybersecurity incident affecting its systems and data that may have compromised the personal information of current and former Federal employees.

NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover’s “ChemCam” instrument recently got a major capability fix, as Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists uploaded a software repair for the auto-focus system on the instrument.
“Last November we discovered that a small laser used to focus the ChemCam telescope on its targets had failed” said Roger Wiens, instrument lead at LANL. “Without this laser rangefinder, the ChemCam instrument was somewhat blind. The main laser that creates flashes of plasma when it analyzes rocks and soils up to 25 feet from the rover was not affected,” he said, “but the laser analyses only work when the telescope projecting the laser light to the target is in focus.”
The team knows approximate distances to each target, but this information is not accurate enough to provide an in-focus image.
Since November the team had limped along by taking nine images, each at a different focus, for every target. The data that was returned contained eight blurry images and one in focus, “a rather poor return for the effort and time, but better than nothing,” Wiens said.

China-based hackers are suspected once again of breaking into U.S. government computer networks, and the entire federal workforce could be at risk this time.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that data from the Office of Personnel Management — the human resources department for the federal government — and the Interior Department had been compromised.
“The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how and why this occurred,” the statement Thursday said.
This morning, the Los Alamos Monitor contacted both the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos Field Office to see if any local employees or local offices had been affected by the breach.
Spokespersons from both LANL and LAFO said questions about the breach should be referred to the National Nuclear Security Administration headquarters in Washington, D.C.
A NNSA spokesperson said this afternoon that DOE employees were notified of the breach by Secretary Ernest Moniz late Thursday after the breach was announced, but had no other information.
According to national reports, hackers were believed to be based in China, said Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine.

Each May, employees of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) pledge contributions to help create the leaders of tomorrow through the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund (LAESF).
In 2008, Alicia Salazar-Crockett was the Platinum Award Winner, receiving $30,000 toward her education.
A new LANL Community Connections Podcast features Salazar-Crockett relaying the impact the LAESF award has had on her life.
Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Community Programs Office Deputy Director Carole Rutten interviews Salazar-Crockett in the episode.
“Alicia is the perfect example of the scholarship fund,” said Rutten. “At 18 years of age, she received the top scholarship from LAESF for her undergraduate studies. She went on to receive her graduate degree in nuclear engineering. Now she is a full-time laboratory employee.”
This year, 78 scholars received more than $400,000. Since 1999, more than $4.9 million has been awarded through 1,000 scholarships. Los Alamos National Security, LLC matches each employee’s pledge — up to $250,000 annually — to LAESF, which is co-managed by the LANL Foundation and LANL Community Programs Office.

The Department of Energy announced today that all waste containers from Los Alamos National Laboratory containing nitrate salt bearing waste have been isolated.
The DOE put out the statement along with the New Mexico Environment Department.
“This milestone illustrates DOE’s commitment to safely recover WIPP in a manner that increases worker safety and protects the public and the environment,” said Joe Franco, DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office Manager, in today’s statement. “The DOE and its contractors at WIPP will continue to safely implement the recovery plan as we work toward resuming operations at WIPP."
The waste containers with nitrate salt were determined to be responsible for the 2014 radiological release.
Shortly after the February 14, 2014, radiological release, NMED issued an Administrative Order that required the expedited closure of Panel 7, Room 7, as well as the initial closure of Panel 6 at WIPP.
A DOE Accident Investigation Board report issued in April concluded that the release was caused by an exothermic reaction involving a mixture of organic materials and nitrate salts in one of the waste drums.

It’s been awhile since Los Alamos County has experienced May weather as wet as it did last month. It’s been 23 years, to be exact.
The last time the county has seen that kind of rain was in 1992. Los Alamos County got nearly 3 inches of rain in some spots, that according to Los Alamos National Laboratory weather reports.
May 2015 ranks as the ninth wettest on record, according to the lab.
According to LANL meteorologist Jean Dewart, the meter at Technical Area 6’s weather station recorded 2.80 inches, which was a little more than double the long-term average of 1.39 inches in May.
The biggest totals, however, were recorded at TA-49 and TA-53, as well as in White Rock. At TA-49, near Bandelier, the total was 3.11 inches and at TA-53, near the Los Alamos Airport, the measurement was 3.30 inches.
The TA-54 gauge near White Rock received 2.92 inches last month, which was nearly triple that of a typical May.
Dewart said since last month and May 1992 there have been eight Mays that have seen a quarter-inch of rain or less.
Since January, Los Alamos has received 6.61 inches, 20 percent higher than the townsite’s long-term average and White Rock has received 6.06 inches, nearly double that of what is typical year-to-date.

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist convicted of offering to help develop nuclear weapons for Venezuela cannot appeal his five-year sentence because he gave up that right, a federal court said.

In an opinion issued Monday, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni had no grounds to fighting his sentencing because his plea deal called for no appeals.

Mascheroni, 79, argued in court papers that he had ineffective attorneys and he didn't fully understand his plea agreement. He wanted his sentencing tossed out.

But the court said Mascheroni was well aware of the agreement and a U.S. district judge made sure he understood all that was presented.

"Dr. Mascheroni, who has a Ph.D. and is a former scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear weapons division, signed the plea agreement, which stated that he freely and voluntarily entered his plea and that he had reviewed it with counsel," the federal appeals court wrote.

In January, Mascheroni was sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty.

The National Park Service/Department of Energy field team’s visit this week will help determine the scope of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
NPS and DOE are currently working on a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) concerning the administration of facilities under the jurisdiction of DOE, including those “behind the fence” at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The MOA will determine and include provisions for enhanced public access, management, interpretation and historic preservation of the sites.
The team will tour 17 historic sites located at eight technical areas, including V-site (Fat Man research and development and Trinity Gadget assembly) and Gun Site (Little Boy research and development) and meet with LANL officials to discuss the MOA.
The field team will also tour both the Bradbury Science Museum and the Los Alamos Historical Museum, including the Hans Bethe House. They will take the Historic District Walking Tour and visit the Historical Society Archives.
Other Los Alamos site visits include the municipal building, the nature center and Tsirege Indian Ruins in White Rock.
The visit includes meetings with representatives from the Eight Northern Pueblos and Cochiti and Jemez Pueblos, the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities and with the MPNHP Advisory Committee.